Charges filed in gang fight that injured 4

Alleged participants and victims in the brawl face a wide-ranging criminal complaint.

March 14, 2011|By Veronica Rocha, veronica.rocha@latimes.com

GLENDALE — Six alleged gang members were charged Monday with starting a brawl that resulted in four stabbings and left another victim in a brief coma, officials said.

The alleged gang members — David Luna, 18, Tony Rios, 18, Thomas Salinas, 24, Christopher Andasol, 17, and brothers Christian, 16 and Edgar Gonzalez, 17 — were charged with the March 7 attempted murder of a Glendale resident who slipped into a coma after he was struck on the head with a cement block, according to Los Angeles County Superior Court complaint.

Rios, Salinas, Christian and Edgar all suffered stab wounds in the incident.

The group of six were also charged with assault with a deadly weapon and three misdemeanor counts of battery, according to the criminal complaint.

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The criminal complaint also alleged their actions were committed for the benefit of a gang based in Highland Park.

Family members on Monday refuted the allegations, arguing that the prosecution was one-sided.

Salinas’ mother, Catherine Luna, said she was angry that her son was charged in the incident in which he suffered nine stab wounds from a six-inch blade.

She acknowledged her son’s alleged gang affiliation, but said he had recently distanced himself from the group.

“I just feel that our sons were the victims,” she said.

Gilbert Rios said his son, Tony Rios, wasn’t a gang member, adding that he was sent to the hospital with two stab wounds in the back during the incident.

Police said the group left a birthday party about 11:23 p.m. and began walking along the 500 block of Vine Street when they ran into a second group of men and women who officials said were not gang members.

The alleged gang members asked for cigarettes, then began harassing them and a fight broke out, police said.

When officers arrived, they found Rios, Salinas, Christian and Edgar with stab wounds.

A man from the second group suffered blunt-force trauma and later slipped into a coma that lasted for less than day, police said.

Christian and Edgar Gonzalez’s mother, Maria Gonzalez, said she is worried about her sons’ medical condition. She feared that juvenile detention authorities wouldn’t properly care for Christian’s stab wounds.

Edgar remains in the hospital with stab wounds, his mother, Maria Gonzalez, said.